Young people hope to wipe out bullying in Milton Keynes

The Milton Keynes Youth Cabinet is launching its anti-bullying campaign at its annual Big Debate tomorrow (Friday).

Representatives from schools all over MK will attend the debate and pose questions to a panel of city VIPs.

These will include MPs Mark Lancaster and Iain Stewart, Councillor Zoe Nolan, and representatives from the CCG Youth Information Service and MKSCB.

Hard-hitting posters about bullying will be handed out during the event.

Youth cabinet member Mahi Joshy said: “Bullying affects so many young people. We hope our work will spread the message that we are all equal and bullying of any kind needs to stop.”

The cabinet, which comprises 36 youngsters aged between 11 and 19, held a ballot last year to discover the main issues affecting young people.

Bullying came out as the top problem.

Some young people said they were concerned about the knock-on effects of bullying for the victims. These included self-harming and even thoughts of suicide.

A spokesperson said: “Young people have made the issue of anti bullying their top priority because many young people believe ullying is not spoken about enough.
“They think it is horrible and disrespectful that it is still a majot issue.
“Many said they hated school because they were bullied or someone close to them was bullied. Bullying should be tackled because every young person deserves to feel safe.”

Nominations are now open for youth cabinet members. See www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/ycab for details.